Boilers for heating water and other fluids for use in heating systems, industrial processes and the like are well known in the art. In general, such boilers employ a ceramic-lined or enamel-lined firebox where a fossil fuel is combusted to provide an energy source for heating the fluid to a desired temperature. The fluid is normally heated by circulating flue gases through a “water wall” formed of a plurality of pipes or channels through which the fluid is circulated.
For certain applications, fluid heaters for rapidly heating large volumes of water or other fluids are required. Such applications include the heating of hydrocarbon well fracturing fluids, which are generally but not exclusively aqueous fluids that are typically heated to about 15° C.-50° C. before they are injected into a hydrocarbon well. Portable heaters for this application must be lightweight, rugged, efficient and capable of high heat output. While fluid heaters of this type are known, they are expensive to construct and maintain, and are not necessarily capable of the heat generation required to rapidly heat large volumes of well fracturing fluids in the field.
There therefore exists a need for an efficient, low maintenance fluid heater.